Rescuers hope to reach Spanish boy in borehole in 35 hours

Emergency services look for a 2 year old boy who fell into a well, in a mountainous area near the town of Totalan in Malaga, Spain, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. More than 100 firefighters and emergency workers in southern Spain are searching for a 2-year-old toddler who fell into a narrow and deep well on Sunday. Rescuers believe the boy fell into the 100-meter-deep well after walking away from his parents. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)
Emergency services look for a 2 year old boy who fell into a well, in a mountainous area near the town of Totalan in Malaga, Spain, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. More than 100 firefighters and emergency workers in southern Spain are searching for a 2-year-old toddler who fell into a narrow and deep well on Sunday. Rescuers believe the boy fell into the 100-meter-deep well after walking away from his parents. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)

MADRID -- Authorities in southern Spain said Saturday they hope to soon reach the spot where they believe a two-year-old boy is trapped after falling in a deep borehole six days ago.

Angel Garcia, the leading engineer coordinating the search-and-rescue operation, said that they hope to reach the spot in 35 hours -- though that depends on everything "going favorably."

Garcia said a drill is perforating a hole, after which two or three experts will be lowered in a cage so they can begin digging a horizontal tunnel to the location where they believe the toddler is.

There has been no contact made with Julen Rosello, who fell into the 360-foot deep, 10-inch waterhole on Sunday during a family meal in the countryside northeast of Malaga. The only sign of him search-and-rescue teams have found so far is hair that matched his DNA.

Rescuers hope to find the boy at a depth of 72 meters, where the hole is blocked by soil.

The entire country remains gripped by the plight of the boy and his family. Efforts to reach him have been excruciatingly slow because of the difficulty of the rocky terrain.

"We are hopeful that we can get to him as soon as possible and bring him to his parents," Garcia said.

NW News on 01/20/2019

Upcoming Events